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Chapter 8
Bicycle Messengers

﻿Bicycle messengers provide a valuable service, delivering material in
a timely and an environmentally-friendly manner. Chicago’s bicycle messenger
companies employ more than 300 bicyclists who make an estimated 1.1 million
deliveries each year. This chapter identifies three objectives intended
to encourage more use of bicycle messengers and encourage safe and responsible
riding.

Using more bicycles for deliveries (Objective
1) will reduce
Chicago’s traffic congestion and improve its air quality. Key strategies
include streamlining the delivery process to make bicycle messenger services
faster and therefore more attractive to use, and expanding services to
new markets.

Establishing safer conditions for bicycle messengers (Objective
2) will help ensure a healthy working environment. There are recommendations
throughout this plan that will create safer conditions for bicycle messengers.
However, bicycle messengers sometimes engage in dangerous behaviors,
including disobeying traffic signals and riding against the direction
of traffic, endangering themselves, pedestrians, and motorists. Safety
training and selective enforcement are recommended.

Promoting bicycle
messenger use (Objective 3) involves listing the advantages of deliveries by bicycle
and current licensed companies on the Bicycle Program’s Web site, and
expanding the Bicycle Messenger Appreciation Day to a full day of events
and promotions.